WDEQ celebrates Wyoming Professional Water and Wastewater Operator Week

CHEYENNE – Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon proclaimed this week, Feb. 6-13, as the Wyoming Professional Water and Wastewater Operator Appreciation Week. The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ) is joining him in honoring these essential professionals. Water treatment, water distribution, wastewater collection and wastewater treatment operators are professionals who are vital to Wyoming. They protect public […]

The DEQ is Turning 50

By Kimberly Mazza CHEYENNE – This year marks an important era for the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).  The agency was established on July 1, 1973 and will be celebrating its 50th anniversary throughout 2023. In 1973, the DEQ was created through the Environmental Quality Act. The purpose of the Act was to protect […]

DEQ Honors Mining Industry in Wyoming

DEQ Honors Mining Industry in Wyoming By Kimberly Mazza CHEYENNE – Today, December 6 is National Miner’s Day 2022.  As one of Wyoming’s founding industries and historically rooted in the state’s culture and economy, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) would like to honor our Wyoming miners and acknowledge the continued impact of Wyoming’s […]

Over 3,000 Sagebrush Seedlings Planted this year.

LANDER – “The sagebrush planting went great,” stated Josh Oakleaf, Project Manager and VegetationCoordinator with the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality Abandoned Mine Lands (DEQ-AML) Division. Oakleaf was referring to the AML Native Plants Project (NPP) fall planting, which is a partnership createdin 2016 by the DEQ-AML Division and the Bureau of Lander Management AML […]

Risks Associated with Harmful Cyanobacterial Blooms (HCBs) Continue Despite Cooler Temperatures

CHEYENNE, Wyo – Although fewer people are recreating in Wyoming’s lakes and reservoirs this fall as water and air temperatures decrease, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ), Wyoming Department of Health (WDH), Wyoming Livestock Board (WLB), Wyoming Department of Agriculture, Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Wyoming State Parks, and United States Forest Service want […]

Wyoming Presented with OSMRE Western States and Tribes Region Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Award 

WASHINGTON – The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement honored the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality Abandoned Mine Land Division during the National Association of Abandoned Mine Land Programs conference in Grand Junction, Colorado, on October 17. Wyoming won the award for reclamation work at Hanna Elementary School and the adjacent high school football field and […]

Parfitt Announced as Past-President at ECOS Fall Meeting

Todd Parfitt, Director of Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) recently attended the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) Fall Meeting. Formed in 1993, ECOS is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan association of state and territorial environmental agency leaders.  The focus of the Fall Meeting was “Taking Innovation to New Heights” and included presentations on State […]

DEQ 2022 School Bus Replacement Program in Progress

The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WYDEQ) is providing $843,660 of grant funding for early replacement of diesel school buses through the 2022 Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA 21 Grant).   The WYDEQ created the School Bus Replacement Program in 2016 with money from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Diesel Emissions Reduction Act and from matching […]

DEQ and partners work to manage river sediment, improve fishery

By Kristine GallowayCHEYENNE – The Shoshone River fishery has improved and is now better-protected thanks to jointefforts by Wyoming organizations. The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) partnered with multiple organizations toredesign operations at the Willwood Dam in Park County to improve sediment management to betterprotect water quality standards and support the downstream fishery. DEQ, […]